Myanmar

2011

Bangkok, October 12, 2011 - The Committee to Protect
Journalists welcomes today's release of Burmese blogger and comedian Maung
Thura, but reiterates its call for the immediate and unconditional release of
at least 13 other journalists on CPJ's imprisoned list.

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Bangkok, September
15, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the 10-year jail
sentence handed down to Burmese journalist Sithu Zeya, a photographer with the
Norway-based, exile-run Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), and calls on the
government to reverse the ruling and stop its retaliation against
exile-affiliated journalists.

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New York, March 29, 2011--Ross Dunkley,
founder and editor of the Myanmar Times
weekly newspaper, was released on bail from a Burmese prison today, according
to international
news reports.
Dunkley, an Australian citizen arrested February 10 amid tense negotiations
over the future of the weekly, had been denied several earlier requests for
release on bail.

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Partisan Journalism and the Cycle of Repression

by Bob Dietz and Shawn W. Crispin

Lal Wickramatunga's family and publishing house, Leader Publications, have paid dearly in Sri Lanka's highly charged political climate. While Leader's newspapers, including the weekly Sunday Leader, are widely known for tough, independent reporting, they have been caught up in a partisan media environment, one filled with violence and censorship. Wickramatunga's brother has been murdered, his company has been sued, and his journalists face intimidation.

Key Statistic
13: Journalists imprisoned as of December 1, the fourth‐highest figure in the world.

After nearly five decades of uninterrupted military rule, Burma moved toward an uncertain new era in November when it staged national elections and freed the pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The new parliament, although dominated by the military junta's chosen candidates, was the first civilian government in the country since 1962. Military leaders, notorious for their international isolation, sought international legitimacy through the election. "But the vote was so rigged, it had the opposite effect," The Washington Post noted in an editorial. "Rules were written so that, no matter how people voted, the military would retain control; but even so, the regime could not resist Election Day intimidation and ballot-box stuffing."

Bangkok, February 14, 2011--The
Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned that authorities have detained Ross
Dunkley, editor-in-chief and chief executive officer of the Myanmar Times newspaper, on
immigration-related charges in Burma.

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New York, February
11, 2011--Burma's new government under Prime Minister Thein Sein must put an
end to the former military junta's despicable policy of imprisoning independent
journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The most recent
case to come to light is the 13-year sentencing of Maung Maung Zeya in a trial
held within Insein Prison on February 4. Staff at the Oslo-based Democratic
Voice of Burma (DVB), for which the journalist worked, confirmed the decision
to CPJ. Maung Maung Zeya was convicted for contacting Burmese exiled media and violating
the Electronics Act. The court's sentence came on the same day Thein Sein was
sworn into office.